Parking: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many parking spaces per head of population there are in Central Milton Keynes  (a) in 2007 and  (b) planned for each of the next five years.

Phil Woolas: The Local Transport Plan states that there are over 20,000 car parking spaces in Milton Keynes. It is our understanding from Milton Keynes council that  (a) in 2007 there are 20,875 parking bays that are publicly accessible in central Milton Keynes, these include those on the public highway and in third party ownership and this works out at 0.09198 of a space per head of population. The Local Transport Plan does not contain the level of car parking over the next five years. The local council have indicated that number of parking spaces planned for the next five years  (b) is projected at the 2007 level, but work is underway by council officers to develop a long term parking strategy for central Milton Keynes.
	After a lengthy period of public consultation, the approved Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy for this growth area aims to encourage a shift towards more sustainable modes of travel in the future.

Parking: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of annual parking revenue for the council in Milton Keynes  (a) collected in each of the last five years and  (b) projected for each of the next two years.

Phil Woolas: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has made  (a) no estimate of annual parking revenue for the council at Milton Keynes, collected in each of the last five years, or  (b) projected for each of the next two years. This is because this is a locally determined matter for Milton Keynes council, whose statements of accounts for previous years and projected calculated position for the next two years are publicly available information from the local authority.

London Olympics

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assumptions were made of the total level of administrative costs accrued to the body charged with the construction of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the  (a) Arup report,  (b) Olympic bid document, (c) PriceWaterhouseCoopers' Olympic Games Impact Study,  (d) Faithful and Gould analysis of costs and  (e) her evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on 21 November 2006; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: ARUP based the initial estimates of the Olympic Delivery Authority' (ODA) administration costs on previous games and recommended a sum of £15.6 million at 2002 prices, excluding consultants. PWC advised that core costs of £15 million would be sufficient for the ODA, assuming that they were to be an organisation of the same size and responsibilities as an Urban Development Corporation, but advised that a fuller "bottom-up" analysis of costs was required. This was undertaken by KPMG in 2005. Faithful and Gould were not commissioned by my Department and we are not aware of any estimates they may have made.
	Since winning the bid, the work my Department has done has calculated that, as the ODA's scope and functions will increase, the sums of money required for their administration must also increase.
	In my response, published on the 26 March 2007, to the Select Committee's report I said the total cost of the ODA's programme delivery budget, would be £570 million. The increase in costs reflects the fact that the ODA was to undertake an increase in responsibilities, delivering not just the necessary venues for the games but the associated legacy and regeneration ambitions set by the Government. This sum represents around 10 per cent. of the total costs of the ODA Programme of £5,254 million, net of tax, and is consistent with industry norms for a project of this scale, complexity and concentration. Of this the combined staffing, accommodation and IT cost of ODA and the Delivery Partner, CLM, is £476 million. The balance of £94 million is to cover the establishment on the Olympic Park site of the necessary provision for up to 9,000 construction workers, including health and canteen facilities and transportation.

Afghanistan: Peace Keeping Operations

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when body armour was first provided to Marine forces in Afghanistan for their current deployment; and how long the gap was between deployment and issuance of such armour.

Adam Ingram: Since 2004 it has been departmental policy that all troops should be provided with Enhanced Combat Body Armour (ECBA) before they deploy to an operational Theatre, and so all members of 3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines, who deployed to Afghanistan were issued with this equipment before deployment in autumn 2006.
	In addition, Improved Performance Body Armour (OSPREY), which has an enhanced fragmentation vest and larger plates, and Enhanced Personal Protective Equipment (KESTREL), which provides even greater protection have been provided to operational Theatres for use against specific threats and for specific roles. Delivery of Osprey to Afghanistan began in February 2006, and delivery of Kestrel in May 2006; all three types of body armour were available to the Royal Marines for the entirety of their operational tour.

Armed Forces: Uniforms

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of supplying dress uniforms to officers in the  (a) Royal Navy,  (b) Royal Air Force and  (c) Army in the last year for which figures are available.

Adam Ingram: Royal Navy and Royal Air Force dress uniforms are provided by a 'supply fit' contract which means units raise demands directly with the supplier to provide and fit uniforms at specific locations. Due to the nature of this contract, it is not possible to provide information on how many dress uniforms were supplied as this information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The approximate cost of the unit is £135.00.
	Army officers are given an outfit allowance, with which to purchase all their uniform requirements, and this varies from regiment to regiment. The majority of grants will be around £2,100.00 it is not possible to separate out the costs of dress uniforms from this.

Departmental Expenditure

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to reduce significantly his Department's budget.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to reduce his departmental expenditure in line with Whitehall efficiency savings targets.

John Prescott: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) this morning.

Antisocial Behaviour: Families

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate she has made of the cost of  (a) supporting a problem family in the community and  (b) early intervention support for such a family.

Patrick McFadden: There is no archetypal 'problem family'. We are committed to engaging with families who are excluded because they have multiple problems and the costs associated with supporting a family with multiple problems varies according to the number and type of services being used. Recent HMT analysis of published research suggests that a family suffering from five problems (depression, alcohol misuse, domestic violence, short periods of homelessness and being involved in criminality) are estimated to create costs of between £55,000 to £115,000 per year. Illustrative estimates produced by the Social Exclusion Task Force suggest that a family with parental drug problems, experience of prison, care services and unemployment may use services costing around £117,000 per year.
	Early intervention is widely acknowledged as a cost effective approach to supporting families at risk of or experiencing multiple problems. Currently, the most robust assessments of the costs and benefits of early intervention have come from international research. For example, US evaluation of the Nurse Family Partnership model demonstrates that high-quality social support alongside antenatal clinical care for the most at risk families from pregnancy to the age of two has a sustained impact on a wide range of longer term outcomes. Independent evaluations show a per family cost of around US$8,000 over two and a half years which accrues downstream savings equivalent to four times the cost of the actual programme for the most at risk families.
	To help build the evidence base on the costs and benefits of early intervention in the UK, the Government are developing and rigorously evaluating a programme based upon the Nurse Family Partnership in 10 areas across England. This programme will go live across 10 areas in April. Furthermore, the Social Exclusion Task Force is leading work on analysis of downstream costs associated with social exclusion and savings associated with early intervention.

Higher Education: Gender

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what studies have been commissioned by his Department on the gender gap in university applications; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The Department has not commissioned any research to look at the gender gap in university applications. Figures from UCAS show that there is a higher number of women applying overall to higher education compared to men—in 2006, of all English domiciled applicants who applied to English HEIs, 55.4 per cent. were female (Source: http://www.ucas.ac.uk/figures/ucasdata/sex/index.html). There are differences between men and women in terms of subjects applied for. More men apply for courses in: Engineering; Mathematical and Computer Science; Technologies; Architecture, Building and Planning; and Physical Science. More women apply for courses in: Education; Medicine; Veterinary Science; Agriculture and Related subjects; European languages; Literature and related subjects; Linguistics; Classics; and Combined Arts.
	We do not clearly know the reasons for the differences in the numbers and patterns of applications between men and women, more broadly prior attainment has been seen as the most significant determinant of HE participation. The Department is, therefore, undertaking internal analysis to look at the gender gap in higher education participation and how it has changed over time.

Learndirect

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many individuals  (a) have been helped to find courses by Learndirect advice services and  (b) gained qualifications with the help of Learndirect.

Phil Hope: Between February 1998 and February 2007 more than 8.5 million calls were made to the 'learndirect' advice line. The 'learndirect' website hosted more than 40 million information and advice sessions.
	Users of this service often make more than one call and use the website more than once. An estimated 7 million people have called the 'learndirect' advice line and more than half go on to do a course in the following six months.
	The 'learndirect' advice guidance trial, providing free in-depth careers guidance on the telephone, was launched in January 2007. This service provides people with up to three advice sessions over a month-long period. By February 2007 more than 90,000 people had used the 'learndirect' guidance trial.
	'Learndirect' provision is now the size of about 10 FE colleges, with more than 300,000 learners a year. In the academic year 2005-06, 'learndirect' delivered a quarter of the Learning and Skills Council's target for adult Skills for Life qualifications in England.
	Between April 2003 and February 2007, more than 125,000 people have achieved their first Skills for Life (literacy or numeracy) qualification through 'learndirect'. Between August 2005 and February 2007, nearly 3,000 learners have achieved a Level 2 National Vocational Qualification through 'learndirect'. In addition, 'learndirect' 'Learning through Work' has enrolled more than 2,500 students. Of these, more than 600 have gained work-based qualifications from level 3 up to level 8, including foundation degrees, honours degrees, and masters.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what standards have been set for local emissions of oxides of nitrogen in the  (a) UK and  (b) European Union; and how many UK (i) sites and (ii) airport sites exceed those standards.

Ian Pearson: There are controls on both emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in ambient air, through European legislation.
	The National Emissions Ceiling Directive 2001/81/EC (NECD) sets ceilings for each member state for emissions of NOx, ammonia (NH3), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These four pollutants are primarily responsible for acidification, eutrophication and ground-level ozone. The ceilings must be met by 2010.
	Since 1970, there has been a reduction in total NOx emissions of 47 per cent. The main contributors to UK NOx emissions currently are the transport, power generation and industry sectors. The total NOx emission for the UK in 2004 was 1,621 kilotonnes (kt).
	The UK ceiling for NOx under the NECD is set at 1167kt. The UK expects to meet the obligations for complying with the NECD ceilings in 2010.
	In terms of ambient concentrations, at a national level there are two provisional Air Quality Strategy Objectives for NO2 for the protection of human health: (i) a one-hour mean concentration of 200 micrograms per metre cubed (micro g.m(-3)) not to be exceeded more than 18 times per year and (ii) an annual mean concentration of 40 micro g.m(-3). The target date for both of these to be achieved was 31 December 2005. There are two EU air quality Limit Values for NO2 for the protection of human health: (a) a one-hour
	mean concentration of 200micro g.m(-3)( )cubed not to be exceeded more than 18 times per year and (b) an annual mean concentration of 40 micro g.m(-3). The target date for both of these to be achieved is 1 January 2010. There is a further EU air quality limit value for NOx for the protection of vegetation and ecosystems set at 30micro g.m(-3)( )to be met by 19 July 2001.
	In 2006, two out of 110 operational monitoring sites measured exceedences of the one-hour mean EU Limit Value and Air Quality Strategy objectives. These sites were in London and both were within five metres of roads. The national monitoring network has two sites close to airports: London Harlington and Manchester South. In 2006, there were two exceedences of the one-hour mean nitrogen dioxide concentration of 200micro g.m(-3)( )at London Harlington (one kilometre (km) from Heathrow airport perimeter road), and none at Manchester South (2.9 km from Manchester airport).
	Also in 2006, 24 out of 110 operational monitoring sites measured exceedences of the annual mean EU Limit Value and Air Quality Strategy objectives. Of these, 14 were in London and the majority were within 10 metres of roads. The 2006 annual mean at London Harlington was 37micro g.m(-3)( )and at Manchester South it was 16micro g.m(-3).
	Data and information from the national air quality monitoring networks is freely available from the National Air Quality Information Archive at:
	www.airquality.co.uk.

Sudan: War Crimes

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the implications for British foreign policy of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) indictment of Ahmad Muhammad Ali-Al-Rahman (Ali Kushayb) Janjaweed militia leader for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur in 2003 and 2004; and whether she plans further to support the work of the ICC in seeking accountability for crimes committed in Darfur.

Kim Howells: On 27 February, the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor asked the court's pre-trial chamber to issue summonses for Kushayb and another individual as a result of investigations into the situation in Darfur. It is a positive sign that the ICC investigation has reached this point. It is now for the ICC judges to decide whether to approve the prosecutor's request.
	The ICC will continue to have our full support for its activities, both in Darfur and elsewhere. It must also have the full and unconditional co-operation of the Government of Sudan. We have made this clear to the authorities in Khartoum and will be monitoring their actions carefully.
	Progress in the ICC's investigations further consolidate the court as a key part of the international community's efforts to combat impunity for the alleged perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The UK remains at the forefront of those crimes.

Centrally Funded Initiatives Services and Special Allocations

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the planned Centrally Funded Initiatives Services and Special Allocations budget is for 2006-07; when those budgets were given to primary care trusts; what flexibility there is for changing plans in-year, and what advice she has given to primary care trusts on in-year changes.

Andy Burnham: Full year 2006-07 information on centrally funded initiatives services and special allocations (CFISSA) is not yet available but the 2006-07 departmental report that has an estimated publishing date of May 2007 will provide a breakdown of the main budget lines. For the 2006-07 departmental report it is proposed to refer to this area simply as the central national health service programme.
	The vast majority of the 2006-07 CFISSA allocations were notified to strategic health authorities (SHAs) directors of finance on 26 July 2006. The aim has always been to allocate the funding as early as possible, but there is always a small proportion allocated late in the financial year. The residual items were issued on 19 January 2007.
	To give SHAs the maximum possible flexibility, the funding for the central budget programme was allocated as a single bundle allocation to SHAs. One of the key objectives of the bundle is to enable local decision making by the NHS. Each SHA is responsible and accountable for its agreed share of the bundle, and in consultation with local stakeholders will agree how best to deploy their resources and manage in year changes.

Child Birth

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of births took place  (a) at home,  (b) in a midwife-led maternity unit and  (c) in an obstetrician-led maternity unit in England in the latest period for which figures are available, broken down by NHS trust.

Ivan Lewis: The "NHS Maternity Statistics, England: 2004-05", copies of which are available in the Library the last year for which we have figures, shows there were 584,100 hospital births and 13,700 home births. This equates to 97.7 per cent. hospital and 2.3 per cent. home births.
	Of the hospital births, 54 per cent. were in consultant wards, 40 per cent. were in joint consultant/midwife/general practitioner (GP) wards, 4 per cent. in midwife led wards and 1 per cent. in GP wards. We are not able to break down these figures by NHS trust.

Colorectal Cancer: Screening

Edward O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the suitability of using immunochemical tests for the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening programme.

Rosie Winterton: The National Health Service Bowel Cancer Screening programme is constantly alert to new methodologies and improved technologies in order to ensure the best quality of services. We have recently completed the second trial of a planned series into the appropriateness and effectiveness of using an immunological test. Data from this early work is currently being analysed and we expect to receive a report in summer 2007.

Departments: Official Visits

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on  (a) travel and  (b) accommodation (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad by her Department in each year since 1997.

Ivan Lewis: Information on the Department's expenditure on travel and subsistence in the United Kingdom and abroad in each year since 1997 is as follows.
	
		
			  £ 
			   UK travel  UK subsistence  Overseas travel and subsistence  Tota l 
			 1997-98 6,230,714 870,832 575,458 7,677,004 
			 1998-99 5,421,862 852,272 590,089 6,864,223 
			 1999-2000 6,726,111 1,083,664 553,386 8,363,161 
			 2000-01 6,948,398 1,369,780 549,105 8,867,283 
			 2001-02 7,546,829 1,392,948 608,814 9,548,591 
			 2002-03 7,189,396 1,421,354 591,748 9,202,498 
			 2003-04 7,720,637 2,019,014 702,055 10,441,706 
		
	
	The Department's finance systems do not hold information in the format requested. The figures quoted for subsistence includes accommodation costs which are not available separately.
	The information has not been collected in the requested detail since April 2004, when the Department introduced a new accounting system, as the Department is not required to report in such detail for the statutory accounts. Further analysis to provide the level of detail cannot be undertaken without incurring disproportionate costs.

Departments: Redundancy

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on  (a) involuntary and  (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in (i) her Department and (ii) each agency of her Department in each year since 1997-98; how much is planned to be spent for 2007-08; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 16 April 2007
	The total cost of exits (i.e. compulsory redundancies and early retirements/severances) for the Department are:
	
		
			   Voluntary (£)  Compulsory (£)  Total (£ million) 
			 2004-05 18,808,078 4,334,777 23.1 
			 2005-06 3,560,055 2,981,767 6.5 
			 2006-07 3,013,354 1,713,311 4.7 
		
	
	In 2007-08 a voluntary exit scheme on flexible terms was launched in the Department in March 2007. We estimate costs of approximately £10 million.
	For the period prior to the financial year 2004-05, data could only be established at disproportionate cost.
	The National Health Service Purchasing and Supply Agency have had no voluntary staff exit schemes in the period 2000 to the present day. The cost of compulsory redundancies from the available information is £225,882 in 2003-04, £89,710 in 2004-05, £1,189,946 in 2005-06, £231,895 in 2006-07 and a forecast of £658,121 in 2007-08.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has had no compulsory redundancies in the period 2003 to the present day. The cost of voluntary schemes has been £43,000 in 2003-04, £53,000 in 2004-05, £51,000 in 2005-06, £130,000 in 2006-07 and a nil forecast for 2007-08.

Health Care Spending

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by NHS purchasers on  (a) beds and  (b) furniture in each year since 1997; and what percentage were sourced from (i) the UK, (ii) other EU countries and (iii) elsewhere.

Andy Burnham: The information is not collected in the requested format.
	National health service trusts are not asked to report their spend on beds centrally. Many beds (and mattresses) replaced within the NHS are done so on a planned rental, lease or managed service basis. Therefore the products being replaced are often the property of the supplier or finance provider, not necessarily the NHS.
	During the last two years of the previous national framework agreement for furniture contract sales were running at £24 million and £27 million. These figures do not reflect trusts purchasing direct from suppliers and the NHS Supply Chain estimates that in April 2004 the value of furniture sales to the whole of the NHS was about £60 million per year.
	The current framework agreement started in September 2004 and yearly sales have been as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2004-05 31 
			 2005-06 36 
		
	
	The contract sales are all from United Kingdom suppliers on the framework agreement. These contracts are not mandatory, and therefore some NHS trusts buy from other sources. As the all trust data is not collected centrally, it is not possible to identify the sources of the suppliers where trusts have entered into purchases separate to the central framework agreement. These figures do not therefore cover the total NHS spend.
	In addition, data is available for the amount spent on furniture, office and computer equipment for each year for the period 2000-01 to 2004-05.
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 2000-01 314,328,734 
			 2001-02 250,906,128 
			 2002-03 307,380,747 
			 2003-04 272,513,664 
			 2004-05 (1)228,147,50 
			 (1) Foundation trust figures are not included, as it is not mandatory for them to submit the returns. 
		
	
	The data for 2005-06 is not yet available.

Heart Diseases: Standards

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how her Department plans to meet cardiac rehabilitation standards as set out in the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease;
	(2)  how much was spent on cardiac rehabilitation services in each primary care trust area in each of the last five years; and how much is expected to be spent in each area in 2007-08;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the likely effects for  (a) coronary heart disease patients,  (b) health inequalities and  (c) primary care trust spending on coronary heart disease of achieving the standards set out in the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease relating to cardiac rehabilitation services.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 16 April 2007
	The provision of cardiac rehabilitation services is a matter for the local national health service, working in partnership with stakeholders and the local community. It is for NHS organisations to plan and develop services based on their specific local knowledge and expertise. Data is not collected centrally regarding primary care trust spending on cardiac rehabilitation.
	A new National Cardiac Rehabilitation Audit is being developed across England, jointly sponsored by the British Heart Foundation and the Healthcare Commission. This will provide stronger evidence on effectiveness and encourage local areas to appraise and improve their provision of cardiac rehabilitation.

Members: Correspondence

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Minister of State for Health Services will respond to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham's letter of 8 March on the Mental Health Bill and implications for its Second Reading due on 16 April.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 16 April 2007
	A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 29 March 2007.

Ministerial Travel

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the occasions since she has held her present office when she has used  (a) rail services,  (b) the London Underground,  (c) tram or light railway services and  (d) buses in connection with her ministerial duties.

Ivan Lewis: The Secretary of State regularly uses rail services in connection with her ministerial duties. Since taking up her post as the Secretary of State for Health, she has used rail services to travel to the following locations in her ministerial capacity.
	 2005
	6 May—Huntingdon
	15 June—Brussels
	17 June—Birmingham
	21 June—Wakefield
	28 June—Manchester
	13 July—Brussels
	19 October—Birmingham
	29 October—Birmingham
	11 November—Harrogate
	8 December—Brussels
	 2006
	4 January—Chatham
	5 January—Birmingham
	14 January—Nottingham
	10 February—Birmingham
	28 February—Nottingham
	14 March—Birmingham
	24 March—Wolverhampton and Manchester
	3 April—Manchester and Stoke
	24 April—Newcastle
	26 April—Bournemouth
	27 April—Birmingham
	12 May—Bristol
	12 June—York
	16 June—Birmingham
	27 June—Reading
	11 July—Milton Keynes
	14 July—Brighton
	25 July—Bath
	6 September—Bedford
	7 September—Darlington
	12 September—Brighton
	4 October—Bedford
	18 October—York
	20 October—Brighton
	24 November—Coventry
	12 December—Birmingham
	 2007
	19 January—Liverpool
	9 March—Durham
	22 March—Derby

NHS: Finance

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the savings to  (a) the University hospitals of Morecambe Bay trust and  (b) the Cumbria primary care trust in the financial year 2007-08 will be as a result of the announcement that trusts in deficit will not be fined in addition to being required to pay back the deficit.

Rosie Winterton: The income deduction of £6,357,000 applied to University of Morecambe Bay hospital in 2006-07 as a result of overspending in 2005-06 will be reversed. At quarter three the trust was forecasting a deficit of £6,357,000, the reversal of the income deduction means the revised forecast is for breakeven.
	In 2007-08 national health service trusts will not be subject to income deductions for overspending in 2006-07.
	The changes to the resource accounting and budgeting regime apply to NHS trusts only. This is in line with the recommendations in the Audit Commission "Review of the NHS Financial Management and Accounting Regime" published in July 2006.

NHS: Pay

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average pay awarded to  (a) GPs,  (b) consultants and  (c) nurses was in each of the last 10 years; and what the percentage increase was over the previous year in each case in each year.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 27 March 2007
	Tables one, two and three show general practitioners (GPs) and table four shows consultants and nurses.
	Available information on GP pay is as follows:
	
		
			  Table one: Average GP net income (national health service only), Great Britain - intended average net remuneration/income 
			   Amount (£)  Percentage increase over previous year 
			 1997-98 46,031 3.5 
			 1998-99 48,037 4.4 
			 1999-2000 52,606 9.5 
			 2000-01 54,219 3.1 
			 2001-02 56,510 4.2 
			 2002-03 61,618 9.0 
		
	
	
		
			  Table two: Estimated average GP net income (NHS only), Great Britain 
			   Amount (£) 
			 2003-04 72,752 
		
	
	
		
			  Table three: Estimated average GP net income (all sources), United Kingdom 
			   Amount (£) 
			 2004-05 100,000 
			 2005-06 (1)— 
			 2006-07 (1)— 
			 (1 )Not yet available. 
		
	
	The concept of intended average net remuneration (IANR) disappeared with the introduction of the new general medical services contract in 2003-04. Figures for future years, including the 2003-04 and 2004-05 estimates, are not comparable with IANR figures and so no percentage increases for those years are shown. Since 2004-05 information on GP income is derived from the HM Revenue and Customs tax self-assessment database which relates to income from all sources, NHS and private. Information for 2005-06 will not be available until late 2007.
	
		
			  Table four: Shows information for consultants and nurses. 
			   Average pay for consultants (£)  Percentage increase for consultants (average earnings per fte)  Average pay for nurses (£)  Percentage increase for nurses (average earnings per fte) 
			 1997-98 65,799 1.0 20,760 -8.5 
			 1998-99 69,934 6.3 20,972 1.0 
			 1999-2000 74,007 5.8 22,280 6.2 
			 2000-01 80,684 9.0 23,371 4.9 
			 2001-02 86,477 7.2 24,673 5.6 
			 2002-03 89,846 3.9 25,613 3.8 
			 2003-04 103,246 14.9 26,236 2.4 
			 2004-05 109,728 6.3 27,836 6.1 
			 2005-06 112,828 2.8 29,010 4.2 
			 2006-07 117,634 4.3 30,507 5.2 
			 2007-08 112,456 4.1 31,826 4.3 
			  Notes: Figures for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are estimated projections and are subject to change.

NHS: Private Finance Initiative

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her Department's press release of 27 February 2007 Mapping the success of NHS building schemes since 1997, when she expects each of the private finance initiative schemes mentioned in the press release to reach financial close.

Andy Burnham: The table gives the dates that financial close is planned for each of the schemes mentioned in the press release of 27 February 2007, Mapping the success of national health service building schemes since 1997.
	
		
			   Date 
			 Mid Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust Quarter 2 2007 
			 North Middlesex, University Hospital NHS Trust Quarter 3 2007 
			 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust Quarter 3 2007 
			 Tees and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust Quarter 3 2007 
			 Peterborough Hospitals NHS Trust Quarter 3 2007 
			 Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust Quarter 1 2008 
			 North Bristol/South Gloucestershire primary care trusts Quarter 4 2008

Prostate Cancer

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many clinical nurse specialists are working with prostate cancer patients in England; and what her assessment is of the adequacy of these numbers.

Rosie Winterton: Data on the number of clinical nurse specialists are not collected centrally. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has identified clinical nurse specialists as core members of the urology multidisciplinary team in their "Improving Outcomes in Urological Cancers" guidance issued in 2002. It is for cancer networks to work in partnership with strategic health authorities, national health service trusts and postgraduate deaneries to put in place a sustainable process, to assess, plan and review their work force needs and the education and training of all staff linked to local and national priorities for cancer including the implementation of NICE improving outcomes guidance.

National Crime Squad

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 27 March 2007,  Official Report, column 458W, on the National Crime Squad, what estimate he has made of the level of  (a) Class A drug trafficking,  (b) organised immigration crime and  (c) hi-tech crime; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The UK Threat Assessment (UKTA), available on the SOCA website, estimates that between 60 to 80 tonnes of heroin and cocaine are trafficked into the UK each year. The UK consumption of ecstasy is estimated at between 500,000 and 2 million tablets per week.
	The UKTA describes the modus operandi of people smugglers and human traffickers, as well as offering a description of the nature of the problem but makes no quantitative assessment of the threat.
	Hi-tech crime is covered in the chapter of the UKTA dealing with non-fiscal fraud. The UKTA recognises that the scale of non-fiscal fraud is difficult to estimate accurately as not all frauds are discovered and not all discovered frauds are reported.

Offensive Weapons

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted of selling a crossbow to a person aged under 18 in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: It is an offence under the Crossbows Act 1987 to sell or hire a crossbow or part of a crossbow to person under the age of 17.
	Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of persons found guilty at all courts for this offence in England and Wales from 2001-2005, shows that there were no convictions for this offence during those years.
	Information for 2006 will be available in the autumn.

Prisons: Genetics

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how prisoners without a DNA profile on the National DNA database were identified for the purposes of the DNA Prisoner Sampling Exercise in 2003.

John Reid: Data on all the then 72,000 prisoners was taken from the Prison Service Inmate Information System. This was then compared with data held on the Police National Computer and the National DNA Database about these individuals to see whether a DNA sample had already been taken from them. Work was also done comparing Department of Health records with data on PNC and NDNAD, to identify patients held in secure mental health units who had not had DNA samples taken.

Equal Pay

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the pay gap between men and women in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

Maria Eagle: The median hourly earnings, excluding overtime, for females employed on a full-time basis at April 2006 in Northern Ireland was estimated to be £9.98 compared to £10.00 for males. Female hourly earnings at April 2006 were 99.8 per cent. of males, an improvement in the position at April 2005 when they were 94.7 per cent. of male hourly earnings.

Social Rented Housing

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new houses were constructed by housing associations in each district council area in Northern Ireland between 1 April 2000 and 31 March 2007.

David Hanson: During this seven year period, housing association house completions were as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Antrim 79 
			 Ards 142 
			 Armagh 75 
			 Ballymena 127 
			 Ballymoney 63 
			 Banbridge 68 
			 Belfast 4,111 
			 Carrick 225 
			 Castlereagh 148 
			 Coleraine 192 
			 Cookstown 13 
			 Craigavon 137 
			 Deny 1,234 
			 Down 293 
			 Dungannon 46 
			 Fermanagh 236 
			 Northern  
			 Ireland  
			 Office  
			 Lame 30 
			 Limavady 127 
			 Lisburn 968 
			 Magherafelt 22 
			 Moyle 2 
			 Newry/Mourne 274 
			 Newtownabbey 116 
			 North Down 241 
			 Omagh 131 
			 Strabane 241

South Eastern Education and Library Board: Public Appointments

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what monies have been paid to the four Commissioners who were appointed to the South Eastern Education and Library Board in June 2006.

Maria Eagle: The chief executive of the South Eastern education and library board has advised me that, up to and including 28 February 2007, the four Commissioners who were appointed on 6 July 2006 have been paid a total of £66,742.60. Costs for March 2007 are not yet available.

Departments: Official Hospitality

David Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister what measures are in place to limit the amount of money spent on alcohol for hospitality purposes by his Office.

Tony Blair: For accounting purposes my office forms part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Hilary Armstrong) today.

Energy Supply: Meters

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  if he will meet the three energy suppliers who continue to back-charge token meter consumers and urge them to end the practice;
	(2)  whether the risks of debt associated with the late recalibration of electricity token meter recalibration has been clearly communicated to those token meter users who remain at risk of such debt by those suppliers who continue to back-charge following price rise announcements; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) is responsible for regulating gas and electricity supply, including matters related to prepayment meters. My hon. friend, the Minister for Energy, has no plans to meet with the energy suppliers on this issue. I welcome Ofgem's commitment to working with suppliers to improve their performance in recalibrating and replacing certain prepayment meters. My Department continues to monitor progress.
	Ofgem recently published an update in a letter of 21 March from its managing director of corporate affairs. This letter, which included details of the progress on customer communication made by Scottish Power, Powergen and npower, is available from Ofgem's website at:
	www.ofgem.gov.uk

Technology: Research

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take to stimulate research and development in low carbon technologies.

Malcolm Wicks: The DTI is supporting a wide range of measures to stimulate research and development in low carbon technologies throughout the R and D energy innovation chain.
	 (a) Existing steps taken include:
	Expenditure by the Research Councils (which are funded from the DTI science budget) on energy related basic, strategic and applied research and related postgraduate training will rise to over £70 million per annum by 2007-08. Research Council investments cover the full range of energy from renewables, fusion, improving networks and conventional generation, through to research to keep the nuclear option open. Energy research remains a cross-Council priority for future allocations.
	Industrial collaborative research and development is funded through the DTFs Technology programme. The Technology programme is designed to stimulate innovation in the UK economy through higher levels of research and development and knowledge transfer. Funding is focussed on projects in strategically important technology areas. The DTI spends around £20 million per annum on low carbon energy technologies as part of this programme.
	The UK is also an active participant in the Framework programme, which is Europe's main funding vehicle for research and development. The Government actively encourages UK participation in the Framework programme, and provides help and support to applicants through a dedicated helpline and structured workshops.
	In Framework programme 6, which ran from 2002-06, the Energy element was worth €880 million of which the UK was successful in obtaining around €100 million of funding. The "Energy Thematic" within Framework programme 7 is worth 2.3 billion Euros and runs from 2007-2013. The first call is currently underway.
	 (b) Future steps planned include:
	In September 2006 the Secretary of State published a prospectus for a new Energy Technologies Institute, and confirmed that the Government would commit upto £500 million over ten years to this 50:50 public-private partnership. It will provide a focus for industrial collaboration and substantially increase the level of investment in the R and D necessary to identify the most promising energy technologies, and to accelerate their deployment.
	Further support is provided by other Government Departments and organisations. (For example the Carbon Trust, which—among other activities—provides support for innovation into low carbon energy activities.

Blue Badge Scheme

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on changes in enforcement activity for the Blue Badge Scheme since the introduction of changes in regulations in September 2006.

Gillian Merron: It is too early to make an assessment at this stage, as the powers of enforcement have only been available to local authorities since September. However, the Department for Transport is working with local agencies to improve data collection and promote good practice in this area.
	The Department is committed to tackling all Blue Badge misuse as signalled by a three-month, strategic review of the scheme, which will report in September 2007. This will culminate in the production of a comprehensive Blue Badge Reform Strategy by April 2008.

Departments: Golden Arrow

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many meetings the Minister of State has attended with representatives of  (a) Golden Arrow and  (b) Sovereign Strategy since taking office; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: As part of the consultations on the Department for Transport's review of ports policy, I attended with DfT officials, a lunch on 18 July 2006, organised by Golden Arrow Communications, to hear the views of ports and shipping interests. As Minister of State, I have attended no other meetings organised by Golden Arrow or Sovereign Strategy.
	I have attended conferences, receptions and other such events not organised by Golden Arrow Communications or Sovereign Strategy but at which individuals employed by them may have been present. No record is kept of such encounters.

Pedestrian Crossings

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated completion date is for the non-motorised user crossings programme.

Stephen Ladyman: Delivery of new, and improvements to existing, non-motorised user crossings is ongoing. The Highways Agency is making good progress, 188 of the sites listed in 2003 having been investigated and works completed where appropriate. Future delivery is subject to the availability of funding and the Agency will continue to deliver improvements where this can be done cost-effectively. Therefore, it is not possible to provide an estimate of the completion date.

Rolling Stock

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration he has given to  (a) the replacement of the British Rail Class 43 rolling stock and  (b) a new generation high speed train.

Tom Harris: The Department is currently seeking Expression of Interests for the development and eventual delivery of a new fleet of Intercity Express trains suitable to replace the present high speed trains.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the likely effectiveness of time over distance cameras in reducing the levels of  (a) fatal,  (b) major and  (c) minor road injuries.

Stephen Ladyman: No specific assessment has been made of the effectiveness of time-over-distance cameras. However the independent 4-year evaluation report of the national safety camera programme covered any time-over-distance cameras operating between April 2000 and March 2004. The independent academics concluded that they were equally as effective in reducing collisions and casualties as other fixed and red-light cameras. They also concluded that time-over-distance cameras have been particularly effective at reducing excessive speeds, which are defined as 15mph over the speed limit.

Tractors: Safety

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures are taken to regulate the safety and roadworthiness of farm tractors.

Stephen Ladyman: The primary responsibility for ensuring the safety and roadworthiness of a farm tractor rests with the person who operates and uses itexactly in the same way as it does with any type of vehicle. However, the condition of farm tractors are none the less subject to compliance checks by both the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, and by the Health and Safety Executive during routine farm visits.

Minimum Wage

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people receiving the national minimum wage, broken down by level of total annual earnings.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
	SThe following table shows the number of employee jobs estimated to have been paying the national minimum wage, in April 2006, split by gross annual earnings. In total, around 385,000 employee jobs were paid the national minimum wage.
	
		
			  Employee jobs( 1)  paying the national minimum wage( 2) 
			   Gross annual earnings 
			   Less than 5000  5000 to 9,999  10,000 to 14,999  15,000 or more 
			 Jobs paying national minimum wage 213,000 126,000 41,000 4,000 
			 (1) Employees whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. (2) 16-17 year-olds earning 3.00 per hour, 18-21 year-olds earning 4.25 per hour, and those age 22 and over earning 5.05.  Note: Figures may not sum due to rounding.  Source:  Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, April 2006, Office for National Statistics

Schools: Cadets

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2007,  Official Report, column 770W, on schools: cadets, which fundraising  (a) events and  (b) meetings Rod Aldridge has attended in the last six months as part of his duties.

Dawn Primarolo: Rod Aldridge engages in fundraising for a wide range of youth volunteering activities through v, but has no specific responsibilities for fundraising for cadets.

Taxation: Pensions

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect on business investment of the abolition of tax credits for pension funds in 1997.

Edward Balls: The package of business tax reforms announced in the 1997 Budget, including the abolition of payable tax credits, has contributed to a stronger investment climate for UK companies. The investment statistics show this.
	In the quarter after the July 1997 Budget, business investment grew by 1frac34; per cent. In the quarter after that, it rose by 6.1 per cent., and in the quarter after that, it rose by another 7.1 per cent.
	Between the July 1997 Budget and the 1998 Budget, business investment had risen by 16 per cent. This is around three times as fast as it had grown in the run-up to the previous Administrations last Budget in early 1997.
	Since 1997, real business investment has risen by 50 per cent.
	This year investment growth is forecast to be the fastest in the G7 (according to the OECD).
	Whole economy investment has risen in every year since 1997. In the previous 18 years, investment growth was negative over a quarter of this period.

Social Security Benefits

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the levels of  (a) fraud,  (b) customer error and  (c) official error in (i) attendance allowance, (ii) carer's allowance, (iii) basic state pension, (iv) bereavement benefit, (v) industrial injuries benefit, (vi) maternity allowance, (vii) severe disablement allowance, (viii) the Social Fund, (ix) widow's benefit, (x) winter fuel payments, (xi) income support, (xii) incapacity benefit, (xiii) disability living allowance, (xiv) jobseeker's allowance, (xv) housing benefit, (xvi) pension credit and (xvii) council tax benefit in each year since 2001 in (A) percentage terms and (B) cash terms; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The Government are committed to reducing fraud and error across the benefits system, and we are succeeding. For example, fraud across the benefits system is down from around 2 billion (2 per cent. of expenditure) in 2001 to an estimated 0.7 billion (0.6 per cent. of expenditure) by 2005-06. And National Statistics estimate that fraud and error loss in income support and jobseeker's allowance are now at their lowest everby March 2006, the amount lost had reduced by around half compared to 1997-98.
	Estimates of fraud and error in income support, jobseeker's allowance, pension credit and housing benefit can be found in National Statistics reports, and additional tables on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/fraud_error.asp
	No estimates are available for attendance allowance, industrial injuries disablement benefit, maternity allowance, winter fuel payments and the social fund.
	The available estimates for other benefits are in the tables. These estimates are consistent with the methodology used for those presented for 2003-04 onwards in the Department's resource accounts. For some benefits, estimates before 2003-04 will differ from figures published earlier due to improved assumptions and methodology.
	
		
			  Carer's allowance 
			   Percentage of overspend  Overpaid ( million) 
			 Fraud 3.9 40 
			 Customer error 1.0 10 
			 Official error 0.6 10 
			  Notes: 1. Carer's allowance is not reviewed regularly. These estimates are based on the assumption that the percentage of expenditure overpaid has remained constant since it was last reviewed in 1996. 2. Estimates are rounded to the nearest 10 million. The totals may appear different from the sum of the components due to this rounding. 
		
	
	
		
			  State pension 
			   Fraud  Customer error  Official error 
			   Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million)  Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million)  Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million) 
			 2001-02 0.1 30 0.0 0 0.1 40 
			 2002-03 0.1 30 0.0 0 0.0 10 
			 2003-04 0.1 30 0.0 0 0.1 20 
			 2004-05 0.1 30 0.0 0 0.1 30 
			 2005-06 0.0 0 0.1 40 0.1 30 
			  Notes: 1. These estimates are for state pension as a whole. Separate estimates for basic state pension are not available. 2. Fraud and customer error figures up to 2004-05 are based on the assumption that the level of fraud and error in state pension had not changed since it was reviewed in 1995. 3. Fraud and customer error estimates for 2005-06 are taken from the 2005-06 National Benefit Review pilot exercise. 4. All official error estimates are derived from annual measurement of official error for the relevant year. 5. Estimates are rounded to the nearest 0.1 per cent. or 10 million. Figures of 0.0 per cent. or 0 million indicate an estimate of less than 0.05 per cent. or 5 million respectively. The totals may appear different from the sum of the components due to this rounding. 
		
	
	
		
			  Bereavement benefit and widow's benefits 
			   Official error 
			   Percentage of overspend  Overpaid ( million) 
			 2001-02 0.7 8 
			 2002-03 0.3 3 
			 2003-04 0.2 2 
			 2004-05 0.0 1 
			 2005-06 1.1 10 
			  Notes: 1. For bereavement benefits and widow's benefits, only official error has been measured. 2. The estimates are based on very small samples. The results for BB and WB cannot be separated, and are subject to a large degree of statistical uncertainty. 
		
	
	
		
			  Severe disablement allowance 
			   Official error 
			   Percentage of overspend  Overpaid ( million) 
			 2001-02 1.1 11 
			 2002-03 0.4 4 
			 2003-04 0.2 2 
			 2004-05 0.5 5 
			  Note: For severe disablement allowance, only official error has been measured, and only from 2001-02 to 2004-05. 
		
	
	 Incapacity benefit
	It is important to note that changes were made to the identification of error in 2004-05. This led to the inclusion of types of official error, valued at an estimated 20 million, which were not previously captured by the sampling.
	
		
			   Fraud  Customer error  Official error 
			   Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million)  Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million)  Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million) 
			 2001-02 0.1 10 0.2 20 0.5 30 
			 2002-03 0.1 10 0.2 20 0.6 40 
			 2003-04 0.1 10 0.2 20 0.8 50 
			 2004-05 0.1 10 0.2 20 1.5 100 
			 2005-06 0.1 10 0.2 20 1.3 90 
			  Notes: 1. Fraud and error in incapacity benefit is not measured every year. The last full review was in 2000-01. As there has been no measurement in other years, it is assumed that the percentage level of fraud and customer error have remained constant. All of the fraud and customer error estimates are calculated by applying the percentage overpaid in 2000-01 to the annual expenditure on incapacity benefit. 2. Official error in incapacity benefit has been measured in every year since 2000-01. 3. The official error estimates for 2004-05 and 2005-06 differ from those published in the relevant departmental resource accounts, as up-to-date estimates were not available at the time. 4. As the measurement system is based on the examination of a sample of the incapacity benefit case load, the estimates are subject to a degree of statistical uncertainty. For example, the central estimate of official error in 2005-06 is 90 million, but the range in which we can be 95 per cent. sure that the true value lies runs from 70 million to 120 million. 
		
	
	
		
			  Disability living allowance 
			   Fraud  Customer error  Official error 
			   Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million)  Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million)  Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million) 
			 2001-02 0.5 30 0.6 40 0.7 50 
			 2002-03 0.5 30 0.6 40 0.7 50 
			 2003-04 0.5 40 0.6 50 0.7 60 
			 2004-05 0.5 40 0.6 50 0.7 60 
			 2005-06 0.5 40 0.6 50 0.7 60 
			  Notes: 1. DLA was last reviewed in 2005. Estimates for 2003-04 onwards, as presented in the Department's resource accounts are based on the assumption that the proportion of expenditure overpaid has not changed. 2. The 2004-05 DLA National Benefit Review identified cases where the change in customer's needs have been so gradual that it would be unreasonable to expect them to know at which point their entitlement to DLA might have changed. These cases do not result in a recoverable overpayment as we cannot quantify or define when the customer's change occurred. Because legislation requires the Secretary of State to prove that entitlement to DLA is incorrect, rather than requiring the customer to inform us that their needs have changed, cases in this subcategory are legally correct. The difference between what claimants in these cases are receiving in DLA and what they would receive if their benefit was reassessed is estimated to be around 600 million a year. 3. Estimates are rounded to the nearest 0.1 per cent. or 10 million. The totals may appear different from the sum of the components due to this rounding. 
		
	
	
		
			  Council tax benefit 
			   Fraud  Customer error  Official error 
			   Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million)  Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million)  Percentage of overspend  Overpaid  ( million) 
			 2002-03 1.9 50 1.9 50 1.1 30 
			 2003-04 1.4 40 2.3 70 1.2 40 
			 2004-05 1.3 50 2.7 100 1.0 40 
			 2005-06 1.0 40 3.1 120 1.3 50 
			  Note: Fraud and error in council tax benefit is not directly measured. As council tax benefit is similar to housing benefit in both regulations and administration, it is assumed that the proportion of expenditure overpaid is the same as for housing benefit.